This invention relates to a terminal connecting-fixing construction for fixedly fastening plate-like terminals (used in an automobile) to a mating connection portion having connection bolts.
FIG. 8 shows a terminal 1 to be fixedly connected to a connection portion in a vehicle, the terminal having a wire clamped thereto. This terminal 1 includes a wire connection portion 3 formed integrally with and extending from an electrical contact portion 2 of an annular disk-shape. A screw insertion hole 4 is formed through a central portion of the electrical contact portion 2, and the wire connection portion 3 for holding the wire 5 has a conductor clamping portion 6 and an insulating sheath clamping portion 7, and the two clamping portions 6 and 7 are forcibly deformed to clamp the wire 5.
A terminal 8, shown in FIG. 9, has a plurality of upwardly-directed guide pawls 9 formed integrally with and extending from an peripheral edge of an electrical contact portion 2', and free end portions of these guide pawls are bent into parallel relation to the electrical contact portion 2', so that a nut member 10 is angularly movably mounted on the electrical contact portion 2'. The nut member 10 includes a nut 10b provided on an upper end of a body shank portion 10a, and a flange-like guide portion 10c (for the guide pawls 9) formed at a lower end of the body shank portion 10a.
The terminals 1, 8 are mounted, for example, on a mating connection portion 11 of a vehicle as shown in FIG. 10 (In this Figure, explanation will be made with respect to the nut-carrying terminals 8). The connection portion 11 has two closely-spaced terminal connection bolts 12 and 12 formed upright on an upper surface of a body portion 13, and a pair of terminals 8 and 8 are fitted respectively on the two bolts 12 and 12 through their respective screw insertion holes 4 in a direction of arrow P, and are positioned in parallel relation to each other, and then each terminal 8 is fixedly fastened by the nut member 10 (see FIG. 11).
In the above conventional techniques, if the nuts are not fully tightened when mounting the terminals 1 or 8 on the connection portion 11, or if the nuts become loose by vibrations or others during the running of the vehicle, there is a possibility that the terminals 8 are angularly moved as shown in FIG. 12, so that the wire connection portions 3 contact each other, thus causing a condition undesirable from the viewpoint of the electrical connection.
And besides, the bolts 12 and 12 are provided in proximity to each other, and therefore it has been very difficult to position the terminals 1 or 8 in parallel relation to each other, and then to mount these terminals on the connection portion, and therefore much skill has been required for this operation.